$1500 budget build

[Toon]

Hi, I have a budget of $1500 (American), I need the best setup I can get for the buck.

 

Additional information:

I don't care if you put AMD, or Intel. I don't care if you use AMD, or Nvidia. I am not those types of guys who are picky about all of that.

 

What I do want within that price range though is a good monitor.

 

I will be using this build for:

Gaming, Programming, and College.

 

I do not need any peripherals like a keyboard, or mouse. Just a good monitor.

 

Maybe throw in a microphone/headset (With a microphone), I don't mind if it slightly goes above the $1500 budget. It's not firm, just preferred.

 

Thanks!

[Toon]

Just don't give me bad parts, forgot to mention that.

 

I basically got scammed out of my current PC.

 

$1000 for a PC worth $400, I don't know why I even took it. Died within 2 years of use.

[LienusLateTips]

Would you prefer a 1080p/144hz monitor, a 1440p/144hz monitor, or a 4K/60hz monitor?

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

7 minutes ago, Toon said:

$1000 for a PC worth $400, I don't know why I even took it. Died within 2 years of use.

sad to hear that, any parts survived and could be reused?

[Toon]

4 minutes ago, LienusLateTips said:

Would you prefer a 1080p/144hz monitor, a 1440p/144hz monitor, or a 4K/60hz monitor?

I don't need 4k honestly. 1080/1440p is just fine though.

 

2 minutes ago, dgsddfgdfhgs said:

sad to hear that, any parts survived and could be reused?

Sadly not. I was sold basically a PC that is 5-6 years old without me even knowing. It's such outdated and slow components. My fault for being stupid and not paying attention more before the purchase.

[Himommies]

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$164.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard	Asus - ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard	$129.99 @ Newegg
Memory	Crucial - Ballistix Sport AT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$78.69 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$77.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$42.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	EVGA - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB Black Video Card	$499.99 @ B&H
Case	NZXT - H500 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$50.98 @ Newegg
Other	Massdrop Vast	$550.00
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1690.51
	Mail-in rebates	-$25.00
	Total	$1665.51
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 21:55 EDT-0400

 

[BigRom]

I assume monitor included in the $1500ish budget?

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($264.89 @ OutletPC) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - MasterLiquid 240 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z390-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($238.89 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($77.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($42.99 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB WINDFORCE OC Video Card  ($359.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Fractal Design - Meshify C White TG ATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.98 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($83.98 @ Newegg Business) 
Case Fan: Noctua - NF-P14r redux-1500 PWM 78.69 CFM 140mm Fan  ($14.85 @ OutletPC) 
Case Fan: Noctua - NF-P14r redux-1500 PWM 78.69 CFM 140mm Fan  ($14.85 @ OutletPC) 
Monitor: Asus - VG248QE 24.0" 1920x1080 144 Hz Monitor  ($256.95 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1625.34
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 21:57 EDT-0400

[Toon]

Thanks @Himommies and @BigRom

 

I'll keep waiting for more submissions and see.

 

Both of your suggestions are interesting though, maybe I'll try combining parts and seeing what may work and put it here for review.

[SenKa]

Seems we're all hitting about the same mark. Here's what I'd build for ~1500 bucks today. Though, I highly recommend waiting for Zen 2 to hit the market before building or buying.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor	$294.89 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler	Noctua - NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler	$89.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus - ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING ATX AM4 Motherboard	$129.99 @ Newegg
Memory	Team - T-Force Delta RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$84.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$147.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	ASRock - Radeon RX VEGA 56 8 GB Phantom Gaming X Video Card	$299.99 @ Newegg
Case	Fractal Design - Meshify C Dark TG ATX Mid Tower Case	$89.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	SeaSonic - PRIME Ultra Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$128.89 @ Amazon
Monitor	LG - 32GK650F-B 32.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$349.00 @ B&H
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total	$1615.68
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 22:11 EDT-0400

 

[Herman Mcpootis]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor  ($294.99 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: RAIJINTEK - AIDOS 48.6 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($21.34 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI - B360-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($76.00 @ Amazon) 
Memory: ADATA - XPG GAMMIX D10 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Corsair - MP300 240 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($44.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.78 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card  ($478.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: Corsair - Carbide Series 275R (Black w/Tempered Glass) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($50.98 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: VIOTEK - GN27DW 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor  ($319.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1507.04
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 22:15 EDT-0400

[RobFRaschke]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor	$164.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard	MSI - B450-A PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard	$99.89 @ OutletPC
Memory	Crucial - Ballistix Sport AT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$78.69 @ Newegg
Storage	Crucial - MX500 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$115.89 @ OutletPC
Storage	Seagate - 4 TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive	$69.99 @ Amazon
Video Card	Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card	$478.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case	Phanteks - Eclipse P300 Tempered Glass (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case	$59.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$72.98 @ Newegg
Monitor	LG - 34UC79G-B 34.0" 2560x1080 144 Hz Monitor	$449.00 @ Adorama
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1650.31
	Mail-in rebates	-$60.00
	Total	$1590.31
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 22:16 EDT-0400

 

[jerubedo]

This should do nicely. The 9400F will beat both the 2600x, 2700x, match the 9600K at stock, and match or beat the 8700 in gaming. Programming it'll depend, but as a programmer myself I can tell you that it's rare to make use of more threads if you're doing C#.NET, Java, or any web based enterprise code. Includes a 2070 and a nice monitor. Black and white theme. 1TB SSD storage. Pics below:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i5-9400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor	$174.89 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler	ARCTIC - Freezer 33 eSports Edition (Black/White) CPU Cooler	$47.11 @ Newegg Business
Motherboard	Gigabyte - Z390 UD ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$119.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$87.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Intel - 660p Series 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$109.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card	MSI - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB VENTUS Video Card	$489.99 @ Newegg
Case	Corsair - SPEC-OMEGA ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$50.98 @ Newegg
Monitor	LG - 32GK650F-B 32.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$349.00 @ B&H
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1554.83
	Mail-in rebates	-$55.00
	Total	$1499.83
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 22:39 EDT-0400

 

[Toon]

4 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

This should do nicely. The 9400F will beat both the 2600x, 2700x, match the 9600K at stock, and match or beat the 8700 in gaming. Programming it'll depend, but as a programmer myself I can tell you that it's rare to make use of more threads if you're doing C#.NET, Java, or any web based enterprise code. Includes a 2070 and a nice monitor. Black and white theme. 1TB SSD storage. Pics below:

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i5-9400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor	$174.89 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler	ARCTIC - Freezer 33 eSports Edition (Black/White) CPU Cooler	$47.11 @ Newegg Business
Motherboard	Gigabyte - Z390 UD ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$119.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$87.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Intel - 660p Series 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$109.89 @ OutletPC
Video Card	MSI - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB VENTUS Video Card	$489.99 @ Newegg
Case	Corsair - SPEC-OMEGA ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$50.98 @ Newegg
Monitor	LG - 32GK650F-B 32.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$349.00 @ B&H
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1554.83
	Mail-in rebates	-$55.00
	Total	$1499.83
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 22:39 EDT-0400

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i5-9400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor	$174.89 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler	ARCTIC - Freezer 33 eSports Edition (Black/White) CPU Cooler	$47.11 @ Newegg Business
Motherboard	Gigabyte - Z390 UD ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$119.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$87.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Crucial - MX500 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$44.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$42.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	MSI - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB VENTUS Video Card	$489.99 @ Newegg
Case	Corsair - SPEC-OMEGA ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$50.98 @ Newegg
Monitor	LG - 32GK650F-B 32.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$349.00 @ B&H
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1532.92
	Mail-in rebates	-$55.00
	Total	$1477.92
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 22:44 EDT-0400

I think I'll go for that. Just some small changes. Really liking it.

I t

[jerubedo]

11 minutes ago, Toon said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i5-9400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor	$174.89 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler	ARCTIC - Freezer 33 eSports Edition (Black/White) CPU Cooler	$47.11 @ Newegg Business
Motherboard	Gigabyte - Z390 UD ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$119.99 @ Amazon
Memory	Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$87.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Crucial - MX500 250 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$44.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$42.99 @ Newegg
Video Card	MSI - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB VENTUS Video Card	$489.99 @ Newegg
Case	Corsair - SPEC-OMEGA ATX Mid Tower Case	$69.99 @ Newegg
Power Supply	SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$50.98 @ Newegg
Monitor	LG - 32GK650F-B 32.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$349.00 @ B&H
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$1532.92
	Mail-in rebates	-$55.00
	Total	$1477.92
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 22:44 EDT-0400

I think I'll go for that. Just some small changes. Really liking it.

I t

Looks good. I should note that the cooler is completely just for the looks, it's not actually needed. The 9400F comes with a sufficient cooler. So you could take that out for a savings. I personally would not, though  

[BigRom]

1 minute ago, jerubedo said:

Looks good. I should note that the cooler is completely just for the looks, it's not actually needed. The 9400F comes with a sufficient cooler. So you could take that out for a savings. I personally would not, though  

OP might as well keep the cooler tbh

Intel's cooler are meh anyway, you'd think for the prices these chips go for they can bundle in a half-decent cooler.

[dgsddfgdfhgs]

12 minutes ago, BigRom said:

OP might as well keep the cooler tbh

Intel's cooler are meh anyway, you'd think for the prices these chips go for they can bundle in a half-decent cooler.

If op has $1500 budget, definitely get a decent cooler for ~$30. 

stock intel cooler is known to be very loud, often hitting the 80C+, which is fine but not very comfortable.

[Herman Mcpootis]

1 hour ago, Toon said:

 

I think I'll go for that. Just some small changes. Really liking it.

I t

stick with an i7 8700 and B360 board instead, it will perform better than the 9400F and last longer due to those extra threads.

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3407-intel-i5-9600k-cpu-review-vs-2700-2600-8700k compare the 8700k and 8600k, only in F1 does the 8600k perform any better.

not a comparison, but folks have been arguing over i5 vs i7 for years. this video shows even the stock 6700k beating the overclocked 6600k due to the extra threads. it'll be the same situation with the coffeelake i5/7s after a few years when better GPUs get released.

[Fasauceome]

1 hour ago, jerubedo said:

The 9400F will...match or beat the 8700 in gaming.

how exactly? the single core turbo of the 9400f is 4.1GHz and the 8700 has an all core of 4.3.

[jerubedo]

21 minutes ago, fasauceome said:

how exactly? the single core turbo of the 9400f is 4.1GHz and the 8700 has an all core of 4.3.

The best examples I can give are here, since there's no sources directly comparing the two:

 

 

The 9600K is equivalent to the 8700 as shown in most tech publications and the performance here, while the 9600K is ahead by a very small margin, is basically matched. There was one example of the 8400 beating the 8700 in another article that I can't find right now. I think it was Steve's F1 data over at GamersNexus. I'll see if I can find that and then update.

 

Hence why I said "match or beat."

[Fasauceome]

5 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

 

The 9600K is equivalent to the 8700 as shown in most tech publications and the performance here, while the 9600K is ahead by a very small margin, is basically matched. There was one example of the 8400 beating the 8700 in another article that I can't find right now. I think it was Steve's F1 data over at GamersNexus. I'll see if I can find that and then update.

 

Hence why I said "match or beat."

the 8400 also can't beat the 8700, it was either a margin of error tie or some erroneous data. The 8400, again, is the same microarchitecture and has lower clocks overall. 

[jerubedo]

39 minutes ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

stick with an i7 8700 and B360 board instead

You'd be cutting off upgrade paths to the 9700K and 9900K because of the worse VRMs on that board. You also wouldn't be able to take advantage of RAM over 2666 MHz as the board is locked to that frequency at max. I do have data that shows performance gains of up to 16% coming from 2666 to 3400 MHz on current Intel chips.

 

The hyperthreading won't matter in ANY of todays games. Even in Assassin's Creed Origins where 12 threads are utilized, the 9400F still almost matches performance where it has a full 6 less threads. The same goes for Far Cry 5 which uses 8 threads. The 9400F comes within just a few FPS of the 8700 even though the 8700 has a 2 thread advantage.

 

 

39 minutes ago, Herman Mcpootis said:

this video shows even the stock 6700k beating the overclocked 6600k due to the extra threads.

This was the case even when the CPU released, though, as seen in your video in GTA V, a game available then. The performance differential existed from the moment it released (unlike now where there isn't much of a difference in gaming performance between i5 and i7) so it hasn't aged poorly per se. In fact that video kind of proves that a 6600K is still capable today. It still was able to push in excess of 100 FPS in most titles, and that CPU is from 2015. 4 years is an eternity in the tech world.

[jerubedo]

5 minutes ago, fasauceome said:

the 8400 also can't beat the 8700, it was either a margin of error tie or some erroneous data. The 8400, again, is the same microarchitecture and has lower clocks overall. 

Some games historically respond poorly to hyperthreading and disabling it can actually show improvements in both 1%/0.1% lows and in averages. So it would be cases like that in which the non-hyperthreaded CPU would win. I don't know if F1 was one of those cases but it might have been since the i5s were above the i7s unanimously if I remember correctly. 

 

Here's an example from Battlefield 3 which I remember very vividly. I had an i7 at the time and had to actually go into the BIOS and disable HT to get better performance:

 

https://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/forum/threadview/2832654625474876912/

[Fasauceome]

4 minutes ago, jerubedo said:

Some games historically respond poorly to hyperthreading and disabling it can actually show improvements in both 1%/0.1% lows and in averages. So it would be cases like that in which the non-hyperthreaded CPU would win. I don't know if F1 was one of those cases but it might have been since the i5s were above the i7s unanimously if I remember correctly. 

 

Here's an example from Battlefield 3 which I remember very vividly. I had an i7 at the time and had to actually go into the BIOS and disable HT to get better performance:

 

https://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/forum/threadview/2832654625474876912/

That's not really the rule, it's the exception. Overall, the increased CPU frequency of the i7 can be relied on for improved performance.

 

not to mention the fact that HT will help the programming workloads and whatever multitasking school might demand.

[jerubedo]

5 hours ago, fasauceome said:

That's not really the rule, it's the exception. Overall, the increased CPU frequency of the i7 can be relied on for improved performance.

Agreed there. But that video above does show the 9400F performing just a few FPS slower in every title (133 FPS vs 139 FPS - 4% difference). And it's a lot less money.

 

4 hours ago, fasauceome said:

not to mention the fact that HT will help the programming workloads and whatever multitasking school might demand.

I'm a senior programmer. That's my career. I can tell you that largely the need for hyper threading has been non-existent. RAM and disk speed tend to be the bottlenecks for my workloads at least. Remember, too, that having 12 threads as opposed to 6 isn't doubly better. In real world scenarios the gains cap at 30% at the most. You're still talking about a 6 core part at the end of the day and those extra threads just force those cores to work harder.